About us

We believe in a world without poverty. Where people have the power to solve their own problems, their own way.

Just Peoples is a global community of people who have two things in common; a passion to eliminate global poverty, and the drive to do something about it. Some of our people have the knowledge and ideas to make a real impact on their communities, while others have access to resources.

Together, we have the power to realise a world without poverty.

We work differently

We don’t believe that foreign intervention is the solution to poverty. We believe that real, sustainable change comes about when people are given the resources to lift their own communities out of poverty. That’s why all of our Project Leaders are a part of the communities they serve and have an established track record of delivering solutions to poverty in those communities.

Our Project Leaders are effective because they have a deep understanding of the local context of poverty in peoples’ lives, and have established respected relationships in their communities. Their insight and expertise make them the best people to understand problems, and implement lasting changes which work.

We welcome philanthropists, socially minded business owners and generous individuals who want to make their impact on global poverty to experience the opportunity to connect one-on-one with Project Leaders from across Africa, Asia and Mexico and learn about the innovative and unique projects and peoples they can support directly through Just Peoples.

Just Peoples Co-founders Christey and Johanna visit board member and former project leader Charlot Magayi’s cook stove factory in Kisumu, Kenya.

Our Story

“After spending our twenties and early thirties travelling and working around the world we had witnessed a lot of poverty.

We had a fire in our bellies - why should we have so many opportunities while others were stuck living in desperate situations, purely because of where we were lucky enough to have been born? (In our case - New Zealand).

We felt a sense of responsibility to support our international sisters and brothers who were doing it tough. We both studied international development and worked on projects across Asia, Africa and Central America. The more we learnt about 'solving poverty' through our work and studies, the more we realised how complex and localised the causes were. We spent a lot of time questioning if what we were doing was even helpful or if it was just satisfying our own desire to contribute.

As we looked closer, we realised everywhere we went we met strong, inspiring and resilient local people and organisations with solutions to poverty in their own communities. And we were always surprised by their resourcefulness - to see how much they could do with such small amounts of money. It seemed the only thing they lacked was access to the funds required to make their solutions happen.

We grew frustrated knowing that there is enough money in the world to support these life-changing local projects. And we knew there were thousands of people willing to help if they knew the human impact their dollars could make. But nobody knew about these people or projects…

…and so Just Peoples was born

We set up Just Peoples to connect these local project leaders with those with the means and passion to bring their solutions to life. To tell their stories and enable people to fund or fundraise and make these projects self-sustainable. Through our work and travels, we built an extensive network of partners uniquely positioned to refer local leaders and organisations to Just Peoples: a global movement of people connecting people.

It's important to us that the relationship doesn't end once the projects have been funded. We know the people who fund our projects really care about them: they choose which project to support because they connect with it, and so they want to know about the incredible work they have made possible . That’s why we continue the connection and ensure each person who supports a project receives updates about the project and the impact they have made. This enables donors to watch change unfold and celebrate our project leaders from wherever they are in the world.”

Thank you for believing in us and for your support!

Christey & Johanna
Co-Founders, Just Peoples.

Christey and Johanna try out some street food in Korail slum, Dhaka, with local project leader Sharnila after visiting a new water filter installation.

Meet the team

We’re a virtual team, spread across the globe, connected by a belief that by putting our time and skills to use with Just Peoples we can make a life-changing impact on the lives of some of the poorest people on the planet.

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